Urbanism at its Densest

Hi All,

Thought you might like to read about a renegade part of Hong Kong that just until recently existed at 200 times the density of Manhattan! Because of a zoning loophole this roughly 6 acre site was home to 33,000 people of mostly marginalized status living in pitch blackness with a oddly prosperous unlicensed dentistry industry...

You can hear a podcast on this and other design related issues on 99% invisible (a famous Buckminster Fuller reference where he said that 99% of the universe is invisible to us, not in reference to the 99% out in Zuccotti Park, are they still there?) Anyway, check it out!

Kowloon Walled City Podcast

Scape wins Lexington Town Branch Commons Competition

I cam across this news post and thought it had many parallels with our program goals and project site. A landscape group from NYC called SCAPE won the competition and has done some amazing competition boards, it would benefit to study them for ideas in graphics and diagrams.

From the competition organizers:

"Lexington, KY- The Town Branch Commons Design Competition, presented by the Lexington Downtown Development Authority, involves some of the world’s best landscape architects and is currently underway to re-imagine a two-mile stretch including the Town Branch Creek, which currently runs under the streets of downtown. This competition is looking to inspire and inform, and to provide innovative and implementable concepts for a public park that will act as a true connector through the city's core."

For more information view the competition website

Mapping America: Every City Every Block

Hey Everyone, thought you might want to see what the 2009 census and other sources had to say about our site and the surroundings, very interesting. Below are some helpful links to get help with your base material and information search. They are sites that have been mentioned in class, by Bonnie, Ryan, and myself. Take a minute to browse around and see what you can find.

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/map_ol/oliver.php

 

http://www.openstreetmap.org/

Welcome Students!

Greetings! This will be where we primarily communicate for the duration of the semester. I am still getting the hang of this myself, but perhaps we can work together to make this an effective virtual classroom that benefits us all. I will be adding information to the site over the next few days, but just wanted to get the ball rolling. See you all at the site Sunday at 10:30!